MTN Nigeria has achieved a significant milestone in the rehabilitation of the 110- kilometre Enugu-Onitsha Expressway under the Road Infrastructure Tax Credit (RITC) scheme, which has reached 17% completion.
“We are pleased with the progress. This is a crucial step towards improving the transportation infrastructure in the region, and it helped to improve the ease of commuting. More broadly, we believe the project will have a transformative impact on the lives of Nigerians and the country’s economy once completed,” MTN Nigeria said in a statement.
MTN Nigeria had earlier prepaid the sum of N12.032 billion, towards the reconstruction of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway.
The telecoms giant is expected to complete the dualisation of the 110-kilometre road.
The RITC scheme grants income tax credit to companies and individuals that provide funding for the refurbishment and rehabilitation of roads.
The scheme is a public-private partnership (PPP) intervention that enables the Nigerian government to leverage private sector capital and efficiency for the construction, repair, and maintenance of critical road infrastructure in key economic areas in Nigeria.
Participants will be entitled to utilise the total cost (project cost), incurred in the construction or refurbishment of an eligible road as a tax credit against their future Companies Income Tax (CIT) liability, until full cost recovery is achieved.
In August 2021, MTN announced plans to reconstruct the Enugu-Onitsha expressway, under the RITC.